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Genus Tetraopes - Milkweed Longhorn Beetles

Milkweed Longhorn - Tetraopes tetrophthalmus

femoratus or thermophilus? - Tetraopes tetrophthalmus

Tetraopes thermophilus Chevrolat - Tetraopes thermophilus

spotted longhorn beetle - Tetraopes femoratus

Tetraopes melanurus? - Tetraopes melanurus

Red Milkweed Beetle on a redbud tree - Tetraopes tetrophthalmus

Blackened Milkweed Beetle - Tetraopes melanurus

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Polyphaga

No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)

Superfamily Chrysomeloidea (Longhorn and Leaf Beetles)

Family Cerambycidae (Longhorn Beetles)

Subfamily Lamiinae (Flat-faced Longhorn Beetles)

Tribe Tetraopini

Genus Tetraopes (Milkweed Longhorn Beetles)

Other Common Names

Red Milkweed Beetle, Milkweed Borer

Explanation of Names

Tetraopes Dalman in Schönherr 1817

'four-eye' (each compound eye subdivided)

Numbers

14‒15 spp. in our area, 27 total(1)

Identification

see (2)(3)(4)(5)

Range

Canada to Costa Rica; in our area, 3 spp. are eastern, the rest mostly western, with 7 restricted to sw. US(1)

Habitat

Milkweeds

Food

Adults feed on leaves of milkweed (Asclepias); larvae feed externally on roots of host (root feeding is unique among Lamiinae). (6) • host plants: see (7) • summarized here (Quinn 2009)

Life Cycle

One generation per year

Works Cited

1.	New World Cerambycidae Catalog

2.	The Cerambycidae of North America, Part VII, No. 2: ... subfamily Lamiinae, tribes Acanthocinini through Hemilophini. E. Gorton Linsley & John A. Chemsak. 1995. University of California Publications in Entomology 114: 1-292.

3.	New species of the genus Tetraopes Schoenherr (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) J.A. Chemsak and F. A. Noguera. 2003. The Pan-Pacific Entomologist 79(3):237-244.

4.	Taxonomy and bionomics of the genus Tetraopes (Cerambycidae: Coleoptera). Chemsak, J.A. 1963. University of California Publications in Entomology 30(1): 1-90.

5.	A new species of Tetraopes Schoenherr (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) F.W. Skillman, Jr. 2007. Insecta Mundi 0008: 1-3 .

6.	The timing of insect/plant diversification: might Tetraopes (Col.: Cerambycidae) and Asclepias (Asclepiadaceae) have co-evolved? Farrell B.D., Mitter C. 1998. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 63: 553–577.

7.	Evolutionary assembly of the milkweed fauna: cytochrome oxidase I and the age of Tetraopes beetles. Farrell, B.D. . 2001. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 18(3): 467–478.

Contributed by Cotinis on 24 March, 2004 - 4:20am
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Phillip Harpootlian, Mike Quinn, v belov, Edward Ruden, PaleoJon
Last updated 12 September, 2023 - 1:10pm

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